S&P 500 Breadth Exceeds Broader U.S. Market at Oct. 23 Close

A larger share of S&P 500 stocks closed above their own moving averages than eligible U.S. stocks overall on Oct. 23, indicating stronger participation within the large-cap index at that session’s close.

At 4 p.m. ET, 58.3% of eligible S&P 500 stocks closed above their 50-day moving average, compared with 33.4% of eligible U.S. common stocks. For the 200-day average, the shares were 55.9% and 38.2%, respectively.

The gap between the two universes was 24.9 percentage points on the 50-day measure and 17.7 points on the 200-day measure. Broader-market participation was lower at the close on both measures.

The S&P 500’s 50-day reading rose from 35.2% to 58.3% over the 10-session period ending Oct. 23, an increase of 23.1 percentage points.

For the 50-day reading, 494 current S&P 500 constituents had enough price history, while 4,791 eligible U.S. stocks were included. The 50-day and 200-day readings count stocks whose closing prices are above their own trailing averages.

The S&P 500 is a 500-company large-cap index weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization. Larger companies therefore have more influence on its performance, while a breadth reading shows how widely a move is shared among individual stocks. The measure describes participation but does not establish what the market will do next.

The longer-window readings also differed from the day’s advance-decline count. On Oct. 23, 136 S&P 500 stocks advanced, 363 declined and one was unchanged. A 50-day or 200-day average compares a close with prices over a longer trailing period, so those readings can coexist with a session in which more stocks fall than rise.